Building a Sectoral Information System for the Copernicus Climate Change Service

In order to improve the capabilities of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, ECMWF has launched seven proof-of-concept projects which will ensure that the service adapts in response to the needs of strategic sectors for climate change mitigation and resilience.

The Climate Change Service (C3S) is one of the six services of the European Union’s Copernicus programme. The European Commission entrusted the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) with the implementation and management of C3S, which started operations at the beginning of 2015. This service aims to provide information that will inter alia help to improve decision-making and planning regarding climate change mitigation and adaptation.

ECMWF is establishing a consolidated Sectoral Information System (SIS) which will contribute to the development of C3S. This system will offer tailored solutions for sectors affected by climate change, whether directly or indirectly. Seven proof-of-concept projects have been launched, in order to ensure that C3S will meet the needs of the different users in specific sectors.

A continual and independent evaluation process has been established in order to routinely assess the performance of the Sectoral Information System. In 2015, ECMWF published an invitation to tender for the Evaluation and Quality Control function (EQC), the objective of which is to assess the activities of the system according to best practices and standard procedures.

The consortium in charge of the EQC function is currently conducting activities to monitor the technical service performance using standard key performance indicators as well as the scientific quality of the products. The EQC function will design routine reporting procedures to inform ECMWF and the European Commission about the outcome of its studies and propose appropriate ways to improve the C3S service. This includes the identification of priorities for updates, upgrades and modifications of the operational production chain.

The task also includes proactive engagement with users (via surveys, reports, structured/unstructured interviews and workshops) to ensure that user requirements are appropriately reflected in the design and content of the SIS.

Seven proof-of-concept projects for strategic sectors

ECMWF awarded contracts to several organisations to develop the proof-of concepts projects in the six strategic sectors of activity (water management, energy, insurance, agriculture, infrastructure and health). These projects work jointly with the C3S service to make Copernicus Climate Change data more accessible to the different industrial and public sector user communities.

The design and content of Sectorial Information System will be defined according to the results and indicators derived from the projects. All of the projects, which are described briefly below, started in November 2015:

End-to-end Demonstrator for improved decision making in the water sector in Europe (EDgE)This initiative brings together a group of water practitioners, hydrological experts and informatics specialists with the purpose of translating climate information into knowledge that is relevant to the water sector. It aims to develop a Sectoral Information System (SIS) based on Sectoral Climate Impact Indicators (SCIIs) designed in close collaboration with water management stakeholders.

Service for Water Indicators in Climate Change Adaption (SWICCA)The scope of the project is to bridge the gap between institutes who provide water and climate data on the one hand, and water managers and policy makers on the other. SWICCA will deliver a climate service for water management, through which local consultancies and agencies (known as ‘knowledge purveyors’) will be able to easily access the most relevant pan-European data and tools for local applications.

European Climatic Energy Mixes (ECEM)The aim of this project is to produce, in close consultation with prospective users, a pre-operational climate service, enabling the energy industry and policy makers to assess the extent to which different energy supply mixes in Europe meet demand, both over the shorter seasonal forecast timescale and the long-term planning horizon (decades).

CLIM4ENERGYCLIM4ENERGY will bring together the complementary expertise of climate research and service centres and energy practitioners to provide actionable information in the energy sector. It will deliver energy-relevant pan-European indicators of climate trends and variability, appropriate documentation and guidance, estimation of uncertainties, and a demonstration of use.

Climate Information for European Cities (Urban SIS)The goal of the project is to provide European cities with a proof-of-concept of a service offering Essential Climate Variables (ECV) downscaled to be useful for individual cities and impact indicators based on temperature and other climatic variables together with air pollutant concentrations. This information will place consistent and useful data at the disposal of the health sector in urban areas.

Agricultural Climate Advisory services (AgriCLASS)This Sectoral Information System will translate high-quality climate data into products useful to the agricultural sector, building a system which allows climate variables to be fused with agricultural information. The project is focused on woody crops - namely forests, vines and olives – and relies on vigorous engagement of end users in both public and commercial domains.

Wind Storm Climate Service (WISC)Focusing on the insurance sector, this project aims to deliver information on windstorm risk in Europe. It is critical for this sector to determine the extent to which variability and changes in climate can affect the location, frequency and severity of wind storms. The project provides a windstorm information service spanning an extensive time period, along with a variety of service interfaces, including catalogue search by geo-location and time window.

Copernicus can provide data and tools to ensure resilience, develop policy, protect health, unlock growth and understand the climate. These new C3S proof-of-concept projects (and others in the future) will help stakeholders in specific industries to tackle the challenges derived from climate change by providing new tools, information and knowledge for helping decision-making, planning strategies and policy development.

[1] [2]Two projects dedicated to one sector. The projects will show different results that will benefit the service during the current proof of concept.